Getting in my own way

I realized this week that I didn’t even know how to play golf. I’m not talking about the rules of the game, which for the most part are straightforward, but about how to mentally approach a round.

A guy I play with regularly, Eric, said to me, “the only thing getting in the way of you breaking 80 is you; you have the skills and are way better golfer than the scores you post, you just keep getting in your own way.”

That resonated with me. I thought about it for a couple of days and then my coach came out to play 9 yesterday and we talked about the different ways to approach a round. For the most part, I had been solely focussed on my goal of breaking 80 and when things were going well I was cruising along hitting great shots, but as soon as I had a couple of bad shots in a row I started to shut down and stopped caring as much because my goal seemed unattainable. I allowed myself to step out of the game mentally and let my focus slip. This is not a healthy way to approach a round. You are always going to make some bad shots, it’s just part of the game. So, I talked with Dr. Fran Pirozzolo (mental coach) about this and here is the email he sent:

“”””The key to playing one shot at a time is the ability to stay in the present and put each shot behind you. One of the tricks is to be able to file away each shot, but also to be able to not let one shot bleed into another.

One of the techniques we have used is for each player to develop an understanding of what a “quality shot” is for him. If a player needs to finish a hole or finish a round before he decides how he feels about his performance then he never stays in the present and he becomes so results oriented that every shot becomes life or death.

We have each player “define” for himself what a “quality at bat” (as it’s called in baseball) is for him. In baseball, it would be too depressing to think about “failing” 75% of the time, that is not getting a hit. But that is not really the definition of a productive at bat. The same is true of golf, perhaps even more so. Just because you didn’t birdie a hole, doesn’t mean that you failed. What matters is did you go through your process and did you do “what you wanted to do”. So a quality at bat or a productive shot should be defined by whether you stuck to your process and hit a shot within acceptable standards for your performance level. So I ask that each player deeply consider what it is that is the standard he wants to hold himself to. For example, in order for it to be a quality at bat, I think you must get the right assessment of the situation (yardage to the hole, break of the putt, wind direction, lie characteristics), make a good choice for yourself (club, shot selection), go through your pre-shot routine, including visualization of the shot, and hit the shot within your specific standards of excellence. For my Tour players, that means roughly within 4-5% error for most shots. For a putt, did I start it on the intended line and hit it the proper speed so that the ball has a chance to go in the hole. Therefore, a good exercise is simply defining for yourself what a productive shot should be for you. At your stage right now, perhaps 8-10 degrees of error variance is acceptable. It is not acceptable not to do all of your pre-shot routine or for you to omit stages or analytic steps. To also be able to let go of the shot (feeling good about the good ones, and having a quick analysis of the bad ones, perhaps even determining what you would do better on the next opportunity). So that’s the drill, in your journal, write down all the steps of your shot routine. Every round you should set goals for % of quality at bats. At first, perhaps 2/3 or maybe 75% quality at bats is good. Then we will analyze what are the common failures (physical, mental, emotional, attentional, etc) and how do we address those.“”””

This is great advice. It is how to play a round. Doing what I was doing of focussing on the final score is a recipe for frustration because you allow yourself to carry the bad shots on your shoulders instead of breaking the game down into individual shots that you can actually control.

Knowing this and implementing it is two different beasts, though. It’s similar to telling someone half way through a marathon to not think about the 13 miles ahead of them but just the next quarter of a mile. It works in theory, but takes practice and repetition to get it down in reality. I have time and now I know what I need to work on as far as the mental game goes. Break it down to quality at bats and grade myself on percentage of quality at bats. If you can get it to over 90 percent of quality at bats then the score should start whittling down on its own accord.

Today I will define for myself what a quality at bat is. That’s a good goal for a frozen weekend.

13 Responses to "Getting in my own way"

UCK78 says:

December 10, 2011 at 10:53 am

Hi Dan,

i’m not a golf fans but I would be interested to read more about the actual implementation of the process described above. I.e. what a quality bat is? how to track the progress? how to have the discipline to focus on the process rather than on results?

good luck and good work!

UC
Cortney says:

December 10, 2011 at 3:55 pm

Hi Dan,
Love the blog, actually started one of my own. “The Able Project” name was already taken, so i had to use a different one.

This is exactly what is happening to me right now. I think I’ve been putting too much pressure on myself to break 80 that I actually got upset on the course after i started off badly. Sometimes, when you have a goal in mind that you know you can reach, it gets frustrating when you mess up and stupid things. Glad to see that I’m not alone.

Cortney
Cortney says:

December 10, 2011 at 3:56 pm

meant to say “do stupid things”.
Jim Snell says:

December 11, 2011 at 8:09 am

Dan-
Saw a story on your project a while ago and been meaning to check your blog – and now I’ve finally done it. I think your plan is really intriguing, and I think you’ve got a really good chance at succeeding. And, even though I’ve only read a couple of entries, I think you’re really onto something with the whole mindgame part of the sport.

Sure, it’s important in any sport, but I think you can safely say that it’s what separates the players in golf. I mean, I’ve just been watching the last day of Q-school (dvr’d it; I’m a little behind), but it got me thinking that almost anyone can play golf – at least to some extent. You look at basketball, and the players all look pretty much the same, pretty much like each other. Swimmers do too, and gymnasts, even runners. But in golf, you can have some guy who’s 6-foot-5 playing with someone who’s 5-foot-5, and they both have an equal chance. Or someone who’s 140 pounds with someone who’s nearly 300 pounds. And if that variation can get their Tour card, then they’ve got the requisite golf skills – so it’s really something else that determines who wins, or even who plays good on certain days. (Sure, there’s some luck involved, but I think the only way to look at that is that over the long haul, luck is probably going to even out. And, it’s “luck” so there’s not much you can do about it. Except for the old saying, I think attributed to Ben Hogan, where he supposedly said: “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”) Btw, I’m also watching the Shark Shootout, and the two teams in the final group today is pretty interesting, and kinda illustrates this, ’cause it’s the oldest guys with a couple of the youngest ones – and they weren’t even on the Tour a year ago.

All that said, and in addition to what Dr. Fran said… one thing that kinda helps me is seeing how pros can hit plenty of bad shots too. Not to dwell on it, but sometimes when I make a bad shot – go into the trees or flub one into a bunker – I can think of a shot some pro made, and then make a little joke of it to myself: Well, at least I’m playing like a pro!

That’s the kinda thing that helps me not dwell on those bad shots. I noticed you mentioned how what the Dr. said makes sense and all that, but it’s still hard not to get frustrated on the course, and that frustration can lead to another bad shot, and then can begin the downward spiral. I think the “at bat” idea is pretty good too, although does seem a little bit complicated to me. i don’t want to think about it all that much when I’m out there. And I only really want to obsess over my stats enough to give me an idea what i need to be working on (although, in reality I need to work on pretty much everything).

But, for instance, right now I’m trying to concentrate on quality ball striking. I’m not too worried about the score. And the temps right now are kinda good for that, actually. I played yesterday and it was 34 degrees when I started, and 30 when I finished. So, in a strange way, that’s kinda nice ’cause I don’t go out there thinking I’m going to shoot a really low score – I’m not going to burn up the course. So I think that has helped me do that thing you’re always told to do: just hit one shot at a time.

So there were a couple of times yesterday, I had to remind myself that – yeah, I did put a really good hit on the ball. It just hooked instead of having the little draw I wanted. In reality, that’s probably just a fraction of a difference when the clubhead hits the ball, so that’s not too bad. Or, the ball didn’t get up on the green like I wanted – but, I hit the trajectory I wanted with that grip, so that was still a good hit … I just misjudged how the cold would affect the distance with that trajectory.

The other thing I try to remind myself is that golf is really a game of misses. It’s easy to play when you hit right where you want – but all you have to do is watch one tournament and, hey, if even the pros can’t do that, then I don’t have to worry about doing it all the time. So, really, if you hit a bad shot and then can look at it as an opportunity to practice a good recovery shot, that can help more than making the good shot (sure, it’s a little lie I tell myself – but it’s a little truth too). Thing is, then when you get into a tournament situation where you have to hit a ball off a root and between a couple trees to the place you want, and from there get up and down to save par — then you’ll have done that sort of thing before… and that’s really where the confidence comes from.

OK, so this is going on and on, but one last thing – about score.

I’ve noticed that when I don’t keep a score card and instead keep my score on my phone app, then I’m really concentrating less on the score and more on what I’m trying to work on that day. You probably already have an app, and I think they’re really good ’cause you can record your score and also stats like fairways hit, GIR, etc. But the nice thing is that putting in the score kinda gets to be automatic, and if I’m not staring at the scorecard, then I really can lose track of what I’m shooting (although I still often have an idea). But like yesterday, I really had no idea of my score until I finished the round.

Anyway, good luck with it. I decided to try something somewhat similar this year. If you’d like to chat about it any more you can zip me an email. And I can tell yah how watching David Toms helped me break 80 my first time.

Jim Snell
Wichita KS
Dr. Stacey Hilton-Davis says:

December 11, 2011 at 8:45 am

I love your concept. I am a big fan of achieving set goals – don’t like the “I’m gunna” and then no gunna. I too, am learning the game of golf – belong to a private club thanks to my new husband….haven’t broken 115 YET but I will. I “retired” last year and consider golf my “new” job. Read your story in Bloomberg Business Week and now have a new focus on my own game…thank you. Stacey Hilton-Davis
Tony says:

December 12, 2011 at 3:40 am

Hi Dan,
I try not to think of my score during the round at all. I just make a plan for each shot, then review it in terms of that one shot’s success. I only look at the score right at the end. Beating yourself up during a round is fatal.

It can confuse your partners, though! If I hit a shot just as I wanted, I still call it a success… even if the result is not great! The other day I hit a perfect chip, and it rolled 15ft past. “That was perfect,” I said with a huge smile. My calculation was wrong – I’d not realised it was a downhill green – but my execution was just as I wanted. My partner was confused that I could be happy with what was a dropped shot.

But it was a great chip! And I’ve now learnt that that green is a downhiller! Next time, I expect to do even better from that position.
Nick Dougherty says:

December 12, 2011 at 4:47 am

Hey Dan,

Great project. My brother got me onto your blog and I look forward to following with interest. You will be pleased to know you have some fans all the way down here in South Africa!

Just a quick one. The best book I’ve read on the mental approach to golf is Dr Bob Rotella’s, “Golf is not a game of perfect”. Even the title says a lot, as mentioned above, ‘it is a game of misses.’

Dr Bob emphasizes the importance of a ‘target’ approach to the game. He has seen that the most impressive atheletes simply react to a target, with very little consicious analytical thinking. He also talks about the importance of an ingrained and constructive pre-shot routine. This is especially important in tournament play. A golfer can control alot before the ball is struck (ie. stance, posture, alignment, ball position), he can also control a rythmical pre-shot routine that is consistent. (once the ball is gone, he ain’t getting it back!!)

Personally, although easier said than done, I find that I walk off with my best peformance when I do not even know what my score is, I just know it is ‘hot’ and I wish there were more holes left to play.

Enjoy and look forward to following your progress,

Nick
dan says:

December 14, 2011 at 6:27 pm

Hello UC,

Good questions here. I think that the main thing is for you to decide what a “quality at bat” is in whatever field you are trying to implement this process in. For me, a quality at bat is one where I picture the shot needed, choose the right club, go through my pre-shot routine without speeding up or slowing down, stand over the ball knowing I will hit the shot that I need and then executing the shot. Afterwords, I analyze what the club looked like at impact based on ball flight accept the results and then leave that behind before taking more than three steps away from that spot. While walking up to the next shot, I ask myself if it was a quality at bat and then make a mental note if it was not and what I need to do on the next one to make sure I am hitting my 80-90 percent quality shot goal. It has nothing to do with where the ball went or how good or bad it was, but rather it’s all about how I approached and executed the shot. Since starting this, I have had the best rounds of The Dan Plan to date and my general morale during a round is much higher. More info on this is soon to come.

Thanks!

Dan
dan says:

December 14, 2011 at 6:30 pm

Hi Cortney,

Checked out your site and it looks like you are on your way to reach some good goals! Glad that you are taking it to the next level and look forward to seeing your continued success. Looks like we are in the same boat when it comes to the breaking 80 milestone. It will happen! One shot at a time

Cheers,
Dan
dan says:

December 14, 2011 at 6:38 pm

Hello Jim Snell,

Thanks for the post! Took me a while to read it, but there are some great thoughts in there and I appreciate the time you put in and everything you have written.

As far as keeping score goes. I do have a phone app I use because I can register each shot as straight, right, left, long or short and then just plug the score in. I also keep detailed stats about all of the approach shots, putt length, quality of drives, etc. but right now I’m much more concerned with one shot at a time so have not been keeping stats. I know by the end of a round exactly what I need to work on and then can do that the next day, so no need this moment to keep everything written down or on the phone. Once the spring rolls around and I’ve had a couple of months to hit the driver and fairway woods we’ll be back into a score keeping and stat keeping mode, but for the time being it’s one shot at a time.

Thanks again!

Dan
dan says:

December 14, 2011 at 6:39 pm

Tony,

haha, I’ve gotten that too. I hit a couple of 50-60 yard shots over the past week and hit them perfect and said so even though the ball bounced off of the tundra-frozen green and rolled 5 yards off into a trap. Still, it was the exact shot I wanted to hit so to me was a perfect shot regardless of the result. We’re in the same boat here.

Thanks for sharing and for reading,

Dan
dan says:

December 14, 2011 at 6:41 pm

Hello Nick,

Cool to see some South African golfers on here!

I read Dr. Bob’s book about a year ago and was just looking at it the other day. Perhaps it’s time to give it another read now that I’m actually playing golf..

Thanks and I hope the ball’s flying well in the warm southern hemisphere!

Dan
Katie Seifert says:

February 3, 2012 at 1:02 pm

Dan: I can’t believe the amazing timing of this piece not to mention the remarkable content. Getting out of our own way, indeed! I shared this with an employee who had just finished a “bad month” (her words) and when I shared this with her she went wild. I am a fan of golf though not particularly well-versed in all the nuances. One thing I have observed for sometime: frequently I can tell if a player will make his next shot based on his reaction to the previous shot. So often their body language is still focused on what is behind and they carry it all the way through the remainder of the game. I learned to stay in the moment several years back when my late husband was dying and needed a heart transplant. It is a lesson I cherish and will share with anyone who will listen.
I also think clarifying your best shot ( or best presentation or best final product) is absolutely essential. We teach our Staff to review each transaction and in so doing they get the best possible education in the moment, day by day.
All of this plays to one of my favorite subjects: Deliberate Practice. (refer to Dr. K. Anders Ericsson for more re this) If we seek to be world-class performers we must realize what it takes and be comitted to daily, consistent, correct and deliberate practice. What world-class performers do that moderate performers don’t is very simply to practice not just what they are comfortable doing but, more importantly, what they are uncomfortable doing. Why would we want to be comfortable in our professional growth? Nothing great has ever happened in a comfort zone!

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